Page 82 of His Curvy Distraction

“Seven years.”

“Wow, really? How old are you?”

“Thirty-five. How old did you think I was?”

I did not want to answer that question. “Um…”

“How old, Natalie?” he demanded. The sharp, commanding tone of his voice sent a shiver through me.

“Over forty.”

“Seriously?”

“I didn’t know!”

He shook his head and groaned. “Am I allowed to ask how old you are?”

“I’m thirty-one.”

“Is that one reason you didn’t want to get involved with me?”

“Maybe.”

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.” I wasn’t sure what he was going to ask, or if I was going to want to answer, but I felt like I had to agree.

“What was your first thought when you saw me at O’Kelley’s?”

I closed my eyes and thought back to that night. I was ashamed of the way I ran out on him. After I asked him not to do the same to me. “I thought you looked attractive from behind.”

“Okay,” he said with a chuckle.

“And when I sat down and saw it was you, I felt foolish. All that time I’d been telling you things, and you were my boss. My boss’s boss. You were this larger than life man I’d already manhandled and I’d confessed all this stuff to you, and the only thing I could think was I needed to go before I made it worse.”

He squeezed me tight against his side. “You wouldn’t have made it worse. I was surprised it was you, but I wasn’t disappointed.”

“I’m sorry I ran out on you that night. I made you promise not to do that to me, then I did it to you, and I’m sorry.”

“Thank you.” He kissed the top of my head.

“I’m really happy you were willing to give me another chance.”

“I’m happy you wanted one.”

We sat there for a few minutes, then he stirred.

“Come on.” He got off the bed and reached his hand out to me.

“Where are we going?”

“Get dressed. We’re going for a drive.”

“A drive?”

He nodded. “I know you don’t like cars, but I want to take you for a drive. You said you like nights as much as I do. We can drive north and look at the stars over the water. Are you up for it?”

I looked up at the excitement on his face. The joy. He wanted to share something with me that meant a lot to him. Something he prized, if the way he stared at his car when we walked into the house meant anything.

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